TV titan/actress Winfrey has been tapped to play Marie Carter, the grandmother with whom Pryor had an extremely complicated and strained relationship with. Carter ran the brothel where the funnyman grew up, and where his mother Gertrude also worked as a prostitute, but left her family behind when he was just 10.

Winfrey and Daniels previously collaborated as co-executive producers of “Precious” in 2009, and he directed her in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” last year.

The untitled project has been in the works since 2009, with actor Forest Whitaker attached to help bring Pryor’s life story to the big screen. He signed on to write the script and also produce the film in March, although it is not known if he is still linked to the movie.

Adam Sandler and director Bill Condon were also previously involved in the project before it was shelved in 2011.